Hello and welcome to our shiny new thing to nurture and grow! Before we tell you what you are going to get out of our blog, let’s do some introductions! We are Sarah and Emily and we are raising two boys under 3, two cats, and two dogs in Minneapolis, MN. Trying to balance life as parents and gamers is a journey, and one we thought we’d share in our blog!
The Gist: In 2014 a group of friends introduced us to Dominion and began our intro into modern board gaming. Shortly after we bought Castles of Burgandy, and we were hooked for life. Since then, we got married, added two children, a house and hundreds of games to our library. We usually play two-player games and try to balance heavy Euros (usually when kiddos are asleep or with nana) and shorter games that can be tucked in during naps (theirs, not ours). We’ve played as a couple so many times that for most games we can anticipate each other’s strategy and moves, even for new games! We also have (had pre-Quarantine) a game group where we play 4-6 player games on a monthly basis.
In this blog we’ll review games, talk about our strategies for manning young children while getting in playing time, and cover the in-progress transformation of our basement from scary to awesome game & entertaining space. We will mostly focus on game playability for two players, but will throw reviews of our favorite age-appropriate games the kiddos are enjoying as well.
Who are we?
First up: Sarah
Hello! I work in social work management/administration by day and spend a large part of my non-working hours thinking about board games or browsing BoardGameGeek.com. I am the primary game researcher, purchaser, BGG user, and game puncher in the family (although, our 3 year old is really starting to feel the joy and excitement of punching out cardboard chits). I tend to lose a lot of games because I get impatient and want to start scoring points early, which is not always the smart decision.
Next: Emily
Hi! Sarah (lightly) dragged me into the world of board gaming and I now enthusiastically try new games as well as stubbornly refuse to play Agricola except on Sarah’s birthday. I like games that hurt my head and make me spend 2 hours in a silent haze. Of the two of us, I am by far the most susceptible to analysis paralysis, but if I’m struggling with a game that usually means I’m having fun. My day job is in product management for a medical device company and I have a PhD in Neuroscience that I rarely get to use.
Finally: The Kiddos
Rowan is a 3-year-old who already loves punching out new games. He’s still getting used to playing games, but his current favorite game is Monza (or “racecars”) and he can almost play by the correct rules (with a bit of help).
Sully is 6 months old and prefers heavy Euros. Right now Feast for Odin is his favorite, but he feels it’s a little light and could use some added complexity.
Hi, it’s CreatedByBrett from Twitter. Great-looking site! The colors and layouts are well done, and I like your writing style(s). Although my wife and I don’t have kids, I’ll be back. 🙂
Thanks for checking it out! Looking forward to chatting about games!
Our family has been getting more and more into games (I think the pandemic has had something to do with that). I play lots of family friendly games with our four kids (ages 10 to 4). My wife and I like to play two-person-friendly games together after the kids are in bed — we’ve been mostly gravitating toward cooperative games so far, but I’m interested in learning more about Euros. Love your blog so far and look forward to reading the reviews you post!
Nice to meet you! We also love playing games with the 3 year old (as much as he can), but there’s definitely a trick to finding time for “grown up” games. We are excited to share our solutions for fitting these games into our lives, and hearing about how other parents and busy adults manage!
We used to think we didn’t like cooperative games, but turned out we were probably just playing the wrong ones since we’ve now found several we really enjoy, like Aeon’s End. Which cooperative games are you liking right now?
Nice to meet you too! We’ve had our eye on Aeon’s End; it looks really fun and the type of game we would like. Our main games this summer have been Marvel Champions and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, though for a shorter game we enjoy Codenames: Duet and Fox in the Forest Duet. We play nearly every night after the kids are in bed. Now that we’re nearing the end of our first Jaws of the Lion campaign, we’re excited to check out Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Spirit Island, Paperback, and Last Bastion. We hope we like them just as much!